October 23, 2023
This exuberant debut from Boston Globe film critic Henderson provides commentary on and social context for 1970s Blaxploitation films. Highlighting milestones in the genre, Henderson suggests the vibrant characters in the 1970 comedy Cotton Comes to Harlem offered alternatives to the Black stereotypes that had populated major studio films and helped to make it a box office success. Accounts of how major movies were made are peppered throughout (the idea for 1971’s Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song came to director Melvin Van Peebles as he masturbated while visiting the Mojave Desert to look for inspiration), but the focus is largely on plot summaries and critical analysis of such films as Blacula, Shaft, and Super Fly, the latter of which Henderson suggests is distinguished by its “shocking amorality.” (Rooting for the cocaine dealer protagonist “is an act of capitalistic complicity; rooting against him is siding with the corrupt system that made his hustle necessary.”) Though the detailed synopses sometimes drag, Henderson fares better when elucidating the era’s cultural debates, as when he covers disagreements between the NAACP, who decried Blaxploitation films as glorifying harmful depictions of Black people, and the artists involved in the films, who insisted on portraying alternatives to the “preachy respectability” that had previously characterized Hollywood depictions of Black characters. The result is a thoughtful and loving ode to the genre.
Starred review from January 1, 2024
Boston Globe film critic Henderson's debut book is a lively exploration of 1970s Blaxploitation films. Blaxploitation (more of an era than a genre, according to Henderson) featured Black actors, writers, and directors creating low-budget films aimed at Black audiences, always with soulful soundtracks by such stars as Curtis Mayfield, Isaac Hayes, Willie Hutch, and Marvin Gaye; many became box office hits. Black and white critics often dismissed these films for their extreme violence, nudity, and sex. The NAACP coined the phrase "Blaxploitation" while denouncing Super Fly as a poor representation of the Black community because its main characters were sex workers, pimps, and drug dealers. But Black audiences enjoyed seeing Black people in leading roles as strong characters, which made these films financially successful. Henderson is clearly fond of this era of film, but that does not stop him from his own critiques of the misogyny in cult classics such as Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, Shaft, and Willie Dynamite. However, he gives these classic films, their stars (particularly Pam Grier), and the funky soundtracks their due. VERDICT An enjoyable, funny, and in-depth examination of Blaxploitation films and their influence on contemporary cinema and television.--Leah K. Huey
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January 1, 2024
Henderson, a film critic at the Boston Globe and author of the blog Big Media Vandalism, explores the media, cultural, and historical context that birthed blaxploitation films and tells the stories of some of its most important examples. He defines blaxploitation as "an era, a period of time" between 1970 and 1978, when Black filmmakers "knew the power of Black characters surmounting the odds to win at the end." Though the term was coined as a pejorative, Henderson insists that it should no longer be thought of in that way; films like Shaft and Super Fly were groundbreaking in their subject matter, their visual style, their soundtracks, and the way they opened Hollywood's doors to filmmakers of color. He writes from the perspective of an enthusiast as much as a historian, weaving throughout his personal memories of seeing blaxploitation films in the theater. This is a celebration of an important era in the history of film, and readers will revel in its joyful tribute to blaxploitation's influential films and their creators.
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